Library Information and Policies

The following are from the Parkland College Policy and Procedure Manual, sections 7.02.01 & 7.02.02

The function of the Library is consistent with the Association of College and Research Libraries Standards for Community, Junior, and Technical College Learning Resource Programs.

Accordingly, it is the policy of the Library to:

• Provide materials of high quality that enrich and support the curriculum, taking into consideration the varied interests, abilities, and maturity levels of the student body, and the needs of the faculty.
• Provide materials that support and enhance the educational goals and objectives of the College.
• Provide materials that stimulate growth in factual knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic value, and ethical standards.
• Provide materials and resources to support diversity and global awareness objectives.
• Place principle above personal opinion and reason above prejudice to assure a comprehensive collection of high quality materials.
• Insure that the needs of all segments of the College community are being met by establishing a cooperative approach to selection, as outlined in the procedure below.

Selection Procedure

Responsibility for selecting books and other instructional materials is a cooperative effort between the discipline faculty and the librarians. The librarians are responsible for selecting general and specialized reference works, general interdisciplinary books, etc. Discipline faculty are encouraged to select and recommend materials in their own fields of specialization. Librarians are also responsible for coordinating the collection and working with faculty to strengthen discipline collections where needed.

The ultimate responsibility for selection of materials resides with the Board of Trustees. The Board and the College President delegate the responsibility of all selection to the Library Director.

Aside from the matter of the availability of funds, the following criteria for selection are generally followed:

• Relevance to the purpose of the College.
• Adequacy of the Library's holdings in the field.
• Authority and effectiveness of the author's presentation of the subject matter.
• Balanced presentation of controversial issues--all sides to be provided when available.
• Textbooks adopted by the College are not purchased except in special circumstances.
• Duplicate copies of materials are purchased in areas of high utilization.

Collection Maintenance

Periodically, librarians will evaluate the collection to identify materials for withdrawal. The same guidelines apply to the existing collection as to new purchases. Materials that no longer meet the Collection Development Policy (7.02.01) will be removed from the collection. In general, materials that are outdated, damaged, seldom circulated, or contain inaccurate information will be removed. Faculty members will be consulted when materials in their disciplines are being considered for withdrawal. Damaged or missing materials are not automatically replaced, but are subject to a reorder review process. If the item still meets the collection development policy, the original item or a new edition will be ordered, if available.

Maintenance Procedure

The following criteria are considered when discarding materials:

• Obsolescence
• Physical condition
• Significance
• Faculty recommendation
• Duplication
• Program profiles
• Accreditation requirements
• Availability of updated materials

The Library will retain unique collections if it is deemed that they are not readily available elsewhere. For example, the clock and watch repair collection contains many items owned only by Parkland College Library.

Section 7.02.03 of the Parkland College Policy and Procedures Manual states:

The Library welcomes gifts and donations of materials, or the funds to purchase them that contribute to the learning, teaching, and research goals of the College.

Guidelines for Donations

• The Library reserves the privilege of deciding whether items donated should be added to the collection. The material will be judged by the same selection criteria as those applied to the purchase of new materials.
• All gifts are accepted with the understanding that it may some day be necessary that they be sold or disposed of in the best interest of the Library.
• The Library provides a letter of acknowledgment of receipt but will not appraise the value of the donated materials or other gifts.
• The Library Director will make all final decisions as to the disposition of gifts.
• On occasion, it may be necessary for a Vice President, the President, or others to become involved in the acceptance of gifts.
• No gift collections will be shelved as separate entities.